NATO chief: UK review of Huawei’s role in 5G network is important | News
The head of the NATO military alliance has said the West could not ignore the rise of China and so it was important that the United Kingdom had a review of the role of Huawei in its 5G network to ensure its security.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that China was coming closer to the West in various ways – in the Arctic, in cyberspace and in critical infrastructure, including telecommunications.
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“China is coming closer to us, we see that in the Arctic, we see they are heavily investing in critical infrastructure in Europe, and we see of course China also operating in cyberspace,” Stoltenberg told BBC radio.
“So, this is not about deploying NATO into the South China Sea, but responding to the fact that China is coming closer to us.”
“I trust that the UK government will design their networks in ways that protect the networks and make sure that the UK has secure 5G networks,” Stoltenberg said.
“Therefore, also I think it is important that there now will be a new review looking at exactly how to make sure that should happen,” he said.
When asked about Stoltenberg’s comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswomen Hua Chunying said that China does not pose a threat to any country.
“We hope NATO can continue to hold a correct opinion about us and view our development rationally,” she said.
Reassessment
As part of a broader reassessment of relations with China, UK’s National Cyber Security Center is analyzing the impact of recent negotiations by the United States on the UK’s decision earlier this year to allow Huawei a role in building its 5G network.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson in January granted Huawei a limited role in UK’s 5G mobile network, frustrating a global attempt by the US to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant from the West’s next-generation communications.
Defying the UK’s closest ally in favor of China on the eve of Brexit, Johnson ruled that “high-risk vendors” such as Huawei would be allowed into non-sensitive parts of the 5G network.
But the coronavirus outbreak, disagreements over Hong Kong and US President Donald Trump’s anger with China has prompted the UK to reassess relations with Beijing.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the US, Canada, France, the UK and other western European states to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
